


Tales of Concertia

by Vintage (sour_gummies)



Category: Tales of Symphonia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, F/M, Gen, Younger characters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-16
Updated: 2014-01-16
Packaged: 2018-01-08 23:41:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1138842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sour_gummies/pseuds/Vintage
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a world where Sylvarant is flourishing and Tethe'alla is in decline, where Martel lived and Mithos Yggdrasil died, everything and nothing is the same. Zelos Wilder, Chosen of Regeneration, must undergo a trial by god to release the seals and restore mana to the land. His best friend Sheena vows to protect him on his journey, but there is more at play than either of them know.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. #042. “Start”

**Author's Note:**

> I've had the idea for this AU floating around since basically forever, so I finally broke down and started writing it. There's no way I'll ever get through a linear narrative as long as the plot of a Tales game, so instead, I decided to tackle this as a series of one-shots based off different prompts from a table. 
> 
> I DO have part of a vague overarching outline written up, so hopefully the most important details/divergences of this universe will become slowly apparent in due time. So far, I've been writing chapters in chronological order. We'll see how long that lasts.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sheena and Kuchinawa learn a familiar lesson on the Day of Prophecy.

_Once upon a time, there existed a giant tree that was the source of mana. A war, however, caused this tree to wither away, and a heroine's life was sacrificed in order to take its place. Grieving over the loss, the god disappeared unto the heavens. The god left the angels with this edict: "You must wake me, for if I should sleep, the world shall be destroyed." The angels bore the Chosen One, who headed towards the tower that reached up unto the heavens. And that marked the beginning of the regeneration of the world._

  


* * *

  


"Sheena Fujibayashi, pay attention!"

"..."

"Sheena!"

A painful-sounding _smack_ echoed deafeningly throughout the small wooden room. With a yelp of surprise, thirteen-year-old Sheena Fujibayashi awoke with a start, her whole body lurching sideways from the force of the blow to the side of her head. After a moment of hapless flailing, she quickly regained her balance on the floor with her legs beneath her. Somehow she had managed to fall asleep kneeling upright, while she was supposed to be listening to Tiga's lecture about the Ancient War. The Vice-Chief stood over her now with his hand still outstretched, looking severe and distinctly unpleased.

"As impressed as I am to see that you've finally mastered the art of sleeping with both eyes open, Sheena, this is not the appropriate time to demonstrate," Tiga told her sternly.

Sheena bowed her head in deference to her instructor, hiding the furious blush that had spread over her face.

"M-My most sincere apologies, Vice-Chief, sir!" she said hastily, folding her hands as a sign of earnest respect. "I swear, I didn't mean you any offense! Is the lecture over?"

It wasn't as though she had _meant_ to fall asleep during her lesson! Sheena couldn't help the fact that she'd been up late last night, tossing and turning on her mat over the fate of a certain red-haired friend in Meltokio who would be arriving in Mizuho today, passing through to Mithos Temple on the Day of Prophecy. Sheena hadn't been able to stop thinking about how drastically everyone's lives were about to change—the start of Zelos's journey had been a long time coming.

On the floor beside Sheena, Kuchinawa snickered. Going even redder, Sheena resolved in the back of her mind to make him pay as soon as Tiga let them off. The other boy could have at _least_ had the decency to wake her up before any harm was done!

These sorts of one-upmanship games between them were very familiar, not least because she and Kuchinawa were the only children in their age range in all of Mizuho. They had grown up together, were nearly as close as siblings, and as Sheena didn't have any parents or relatives besides her adopted grandfather the Chief, she almost considered Kuchinawa's family to be a part of her own. Kuchinawa's parents and older brother, Orochi, were always kind and welcoming to Sheena, but that didn't stop the younger boy from teasing her at every opportunity. He had to rub it in; that he invariably won whenever they fought hand-to-hand.

Kuchinawa wasn't a guardian user like Sheena, though. She hadn't mastered it yet, but she was still the only one in the village who was able to use guardian spirits in battle aside from the Chief.

Tiga sighed loudly, beginning to pace the floor again. "Never mind," he said to Sheena in obvious exasperation. "Perhaps you can answer my question instead, Kuchinawa?"

Kuchinawa stopped laughing immediately. His answer came without hesitation—Tiga and the other adults of Mizuho had made sure their children knew Tethe'allan history almost as well as their survival and combat techniques.

"The Ancient Kharlan War was a devastating conflict that ravaged the land and lasted approximately one thousand years," Kuchinawa said promptly, with an air of having rehearsed the answer many times. "The war was finally brought to an end when the heroine of legend, Martel, entered the Holy Ground of Kharlan and made a pact with the God Mithos to seal away the evil Desians."

"The Desians were the ones who caused the war in the first place, right?" Sheena chimed in, hoping to regain some of her standing in the Vice-Chief's eyes. "The ancient magitechnology that they used depleted large amounts of mana from the world, causing many living things to wither and die."

Tiga nodded. "Those magitechnology are lost to us now, as are the summoning arts," he said gravely. "And likely for the best, too. Even the magic we practice today requires mana in order to work. Mana is the source and giver of all life. Without a plentiful supply, the very existence of our world will be in constant jeopardy."

"And with the Desians back in Tethe'alla, that's exactly what's happening," Kuchinawa said darkly. "I just don't understand it, Vice-Chief! If the Desians and half-elves are the ones responsible for everyone's suffering, why can't we kill them all to make things right again?"

Tiga shook his head. "You are speaking foolishness, Kuchinawa. Not all half-elves are Desians, but nonetheless, they are still far too many in number to be easily defeated. That task must fall to the Chosen One."

Something familiar leapt in Sheena's chest, the same as it always did when Zelos's name came up—or his official title.

"That's right," she said, launching into a familiar narrative about the Chosen. "To seal the Desians when they reappear, like they have now, the Chosen One has to undergo a long trial ordained by the God Mithos. This is known as the 'Journey of Regeneration.' When the Chosen has proven himself worthy to the god, the Summon Spirits protecting Tethe'alla will awaken, and mana will be restored throughout the land."

This was a subject Sheena could rattle off by heart. She'd studied eagerly everything there was to learn about the role and legacy of the Chosen of Tethe'alla, including the legendary Journey of Regeneration. The current Chosen, Zelos, had been Sheena's friend since childhood—and for all his distinctly un-Chosen-like griping and complaining over the years, they had both always known that he was the one destined from birth to regenerate the world. That thought both exhilarated and terrified her. Zelos could definitely be aggravating and a pain, but even if Sheena would never say it aloud, she still cared for him. It was exciting, to imagine him succeeding in his journey and becoming the hero who saved Tethe'alla...but there was also no getting around the fact that the road to world regeneration was dangerous.

She remembered learning about the countless Chosens who had died without succeeding in the past. Zelos's father, the previous Chosen, was among them.

Tiga nodded contemplatively at Sheena's answer, staring down at her with uncharacteristic focus. To her relief, he didn't look angry anymore about her falling asleep.

"That is correct, Sheena," he said. "I'm sure you of all people know very well how important today is, for the Chosen One."

Sheena nodded. She was surprised to find that her voice stuck in her throat for a minute before she could answer.

"It's the Day of Prophecy," she finally managed. "The day Zelos is supposed to receive an oracle from Cruxis."

Kuchinawa snorted softly. "We'll see if it actually happens," he muttered.

Sheena turned to him, shocked. "Kuchinawa! How can you say that? He's the Chosen!"

"Some Chosen One," he scoffed, shaking his head. "All he does is chase girls and act lazy. Someone like him could never save Tethe'alla!"

"You're wrong," she snapped, standing up so she towered over him. "Zelos might be an ass some of the time, but he has a good heart underneath. He'll pass Mithos's trials! He has to!"

He absolutely had to. Sheena didn't know what she would do, if he didn't make it.

Tiga cleared his throat loudly, interrupting their argument. "Settle down, both of you," he said. "I called you here today because there's something I need to discuss with you about the Chosen's journey. Tomorrow, Orochi and I will—"

"Sir!" A new voice interrupted, a sentry who slid open the screen door with undue haste. "Sir, I've been sent for you by Chief Igaguri! The Chosen's entourage has arrived from Meltokio."

"Already?" Tiga asked at once. "So, it is..."

The sentry nodded. "The light of the oracle has appeared in the sky outside the village," he announced. "We are to accompany the Chosen and his priests to Mithos Temple shortly, on the other side of Fooji Mountains."

"Yes, yes, we've made the necessary arrangements," Tiga said. He turned to Sheena and Kuchinawa. "You two wait here for us to return, do you understand?"

"But sir! Orochi and my parents are—" Kuchinawa began, rising, but the Vice-Chief cut him off.

"Orochi is nineteen now, an adult," he said authoritatively. "I understand you know the mountain pass well, Kuchinawa, as any Mizuho native should. But the fact remains that escorting the Chosen to the temple in such a large group will be enough of a risk, without having any extra children running around underfoot. Between the monsters and Desians from the human ranch, we don't need any more difficulties. Have I made myself clear?"

Kuchinawa said nothing. Sheena decided to answer for him. "Yes, Vice-Chief," she said respectfully, bowing.

"Then, we'll be off," Tiga said. "Don't worry, Sheena. You'll see your friend soon, when we get back."

 _But then he's going to leave again_ , Sheena thought, disheartened, but she was smart enough not to say it out loud.

Tiga nodded at them again and followed the sentry out, sliding the screen door shut behind.

Kuchinawa turned to Sheena immediately. "I'm following them," he said shortly, heading for the hidden door in the opposite wall. "Don't you even think about trying to stop me, Sheena. They can't say my older brother is good enough to go, and I am not!"

"Wait! Kuchinawa!" Sheena said quickly, running after him. "Are you sure this is a good idea? What if you get caught!"

"We're _ninjas_. Good ninjas don't get caught," he reminded her, folding his arms scornfully. "Besides—don't you want to see the oracle, too, Sheena? This sort of thing only happens once in a lifetime."

Sheena did want to see. She had been obsessing about this day, the start of Zelos's destiny as the Chosen, for a long time coming. Now that it was here, she wanted nothing more than to be by her friend's side as long as she could, before his path carried him away from her toward the salvation of Tethe'alla.

"...Fine," she told Kuchinawa reluctantly, sneaking out alongside him through Tiga's hut. Her heart hammered in her chest at the prospect of a new adventure. "Let's go."


	2. #041. “Fork in the Road”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sheena and Kuchinawa hear soldiers nearby on the mountain pass, and have a decision to make.

"I'll bet you've never even gone outside the village before today, have you, Sheena?" Kuchinawa taunted from somewhere unseen to her left. He was completely concealed from view by a line of trees, as talented a ninja as his older brother.

Hidden herself, Sheena didn't bother with the effort of keeping her face straight. "I have SO left Mizuho before!" she snapped back at her friend, taking care to ensure her voice carried no further than the nearby expanse of brush. "Grandpa took me out here plenty of times to train."

It was hard to keep a steady conversation going while traveling for stealth, as Mizuho children were trained to do from birth. Sheena and Kuchinawa had worked out a method that fell somewhere in the middle, exchanging insults periodically back and forth with one another at opportune moments when their paths crossed side-by-side in the brush. The two of them had been taught always to maintain silence as often as possible while traveling on the mountain pass, to avoid the risk of being detected by monsters and Desians. But, with the temple residing over an hour's hike away from Mizuho, it would have been too boring not to talk at all. The most important thing was that the two of them stayed together.

"The Fooji Mountains hardly count," Kuchinawa answered a moment later, his disdainful voice carrying down to Sheena from the taller branches up ahead. "Everyone in Mizuho has to prove they can navigate the pass before they come of age."

Sheena rolled her eyes at his attitude, secretly comforted by the fact that he'd stuck close enough to talk. He might act like a real jerk sometimes, but Sheena knew Kuchinawa was also fiercely loyal—if the pair of them were to run into any trouble out here, the younger boy would be there fighting at her back to the end.

"Well, that proves it, then! I can navigate the pass just fine," she huffed. "I may not know the mountains as well as you, or Orochi, but I don't need any help finding my way to the temple. That's the only part that matters for—"

" _Sheena!_ " he suddenly whispered, startlingly close to her right ear. Sheena jumped back about a meter in fright, whipping her head around wildly to look for him. Her shock gave way quickly to anger once she understood what had happened.

"What's the MATTER with you, you jerk!" she demanded loudly, forgetting her ninja training in a moment of embarrassed rage. "What if somebody had—"

Before she could finish, a bare hand shout out of the trees and covered her mouth to cut her off. " _Quiet!_ " Kuchinawa hissed urgently, sounding angry and _worried_ , to Sheena's amazement. "Listen, there—due south! Someone's coming!"

Sheena went still immediately, eyes widening. When she strained her ears, she immediately heard what it was that had tipped Kuchinawa off: a number of faint, but unmistakable sounds of clanking armor could be discerned coming somewhere not far down the pass. It sounded like metal helmets and arm gauntlets.

At Kuchinawa's nod, Sheena joined him in melting back further into the trees. They strayed back as far as they dared, from the rocky path that cut diverging routes through the mountain pass toward Mizuho, Mithos Temple, and Meltokio Ranch.

Even at a distance, the metal armaments made a clanking racket that was impossible to confuse with the natural sounds of the mountains. That could mean only one thing. Nobody in Mizuho would be foolish enough to equip themselves with such noisy gear for traveling in the wilderness, not even for protection. There was no way that any of the priests in the Chosen's entourage would have had the kind of money to afford anything so expensive. The only people who would be walking around the mountain pass garbed in bulky metal armor were the Desians, who operated the human ranch on the other side.

And running into a group of Desians this deep in the Fooji Mountains was bad, bad news for her and Kuchinawa. Sheena was a trained fighter, of course, and Kuchinawa was likely even better—but while she didn't know much about the Desians' training, Sheena did know almost all of them were equipped with Exspheres. With that kind of heavy boost in strength and skill, even two or three Desian soldiers would be more than enough of a match for her and Kuchinawa. And they wouldn't hesitate to kill the them both just because they were kids.

 _Damn_ , Sheena thought to herself, curling her hands into fists and biting her lip anxiously as the sounds got steadily closer. _Of all the rotten luck!_

She and Kuchinawa weren't safe out here. The Desians had never been shy about expressing their universal scorn for Mizuho and its inhabitants. They had a long history of mercilessly killing any village spies who were unlucky enough to be caught monitoring the Desians' activities around the ranch. Only the presence of the craggy mountain range that stood between Mizuho and the Desian base— and Mizuho's infamous reputation for training every man, woman, and child in its walls the art of deadly combat—were enough to act as deterrents against the Desians raiding them on a daily basis.

But why were the Desians' voices coming _from_ the south instead of going toward it? They were moving in the nearly the opposite direction from the ranch, taking a wrong turn at the nearby intersection that split the two paths. Where were they meaning to...

Realization struck her like a lightning bolt.

"Come on," Sheena whispered, grabbing Kuchinawa's arm and pointing toward the intersection on the pass. "They're taking the path that leads straight to the temple. We'll have to use the other fork."

"But that way leads to the human ranch," Kuchinawa said at once, looking at Sheena like she had lost all sense.

"I know that!" she snapped quickly, struggling to keep her voice down. "We can't risk running into them out here in the woods. We'll have to sneak around the perimeter of the ranch if we want to make it to the temple. If we hurry, we might be able to reach it before the Desians."

Kuchinawa gave her a stunned look. "Are you serious?" he asked blankly.

"We can't take the same path as those guys. They'll see us for sure," Sheena whispered.

"Then let's just go back to the village!"

"We can't, Kuchinawa!" Sheena said angrily, glaring at him hard with an aggressive step forward. "Can't you see it? Why do you think those Desians came all the way out here if their base is back there? They're going to the temple to kill the Chosen!"

Kuchinawa stared at her. "But if we go to the ranch..." he began nervously.

Sheena spun around in the brush away from him, careful not to make any noise. The clanking armor sounds were growing louder every second, the outlines of soldiers appearing distantly on the path. "Forget it. I'll go without you," she snapped quietly with determination.

"Sheena! You, you unbelievable— _stop!_ "

But she was already running, vanishing gracefully in the cover of the dense trees.

Muttering a curse under his breath in Mithos's name, Kuchinawa cast one more glance around at the Desians on the path, then followed his friend in the direction of Meltokio Ranch.


	3. #065. “A Moment In Time”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While attempting to sneak past Meltokio Ranch undetected, Sheena and Kuchinawa happen to witness a group of Desian soldiers torturing a human prisoner. What follows is, of course, inevitable.

Sheena already knew that taking the fork that crossed near Meltokio Human Ranch was utter lunacy—even assuming she'd been correct in thinking the Desians they'd passed earlier in the woods were headed toward Mithos Temple, to try and kill the Chosen.

To start with (as Kuchinawa had since reminded her about a dozen times in as many minutes since she'd made her detour), the Desians were already plenty likely to get lost along the treacherous mountain pass without any outside help. Only Mizuho citizens knew how to navigate the Fooji Mountains with any degree of accuracy, and most others who tried only ended up getting hopelessly lost at the mercy of the monsters who roamed these parts in search of food. The Desians they'd seen could easily end up dead before they ever reached the temple.

But Sheena, not wanting to take any chances with the salvation of the world—which just _happened_ to include the involvement of a certain red-haired Chosen—had to be sure that the Desians' plan did not succeed. For all her reckless bravado, she also hadn't made her decision in the hopes of embarking on a suicide mission. The path she'd chosen through the mountains would take her and Kuchinawa dangerously close to the perimeter of the human ranch, yes; but she still meant to be as careful as humanly possible not to get caught.

She obviously had no intention of actually _approaching_ the ranch, let alone getting with seeing range of its walls. Whatever terrible things went on in the Desians' domain was certainly terrible, even inhumane, but it also wasn't any of Sheena's business. She knew perfectly what happened to any Mizuho spies who were unfortunate enough to be spotted near there by Desian soldiers. The very thought of it made her shudder.

Of course, such thoughts were precisely the _last_ thing on Sheena's mind, when a bloodcurdling scream of pain suddenly tore from the air beyond the cliffs where she and Kuchinawa were making their way across the pass.

Sheena stopped dead in her tracks, her skin erupting in goosebumps. She hoped the noise would quickly stop, but instead more screams immediately followed the first. "Wh...What _is_ that?" Sheena stammered, forgetting to be quiet as her body started to tremble.

Kuchinawa appeared by her side, emerging from the nearby brush as silently as a ghost. "Be quiet!" he hissed, his eyes furious dark slits beneath the face mask he wore. "Why did you stop? Are you trying to get us caught?"

Chastened, Sheena lowered her voice, but she didn't concede to move farther. The screams were growing louder and more agonized the longer they carried on. "C...Can't you hear that?" she asked, gesturing wide-eyed toward the cliffside at the left where the sound was coming from. "It's awful, Kuchinawa! That poor woman...it sounds almost like she's being tortured!"

"Yeah, so what?" Kuchinawa snapped unsympathetically. "Desians always do horrible things like that to their prisoners, there's nothing you or I can do to stop it! We're supposed to be finding our way to the temple, remember? Now, let's _go_ —before somebody sees us!"

Sheena barely heard him. Beyond the cliffs, she heard the woman start to scream again, the sounds more raw and awful than before. This time, however, her cries of pain were abruptly cut off halfway through: something had happened to make her stop.

A number of shouting men's voices rose up in place of the woman's screams. Sheena could only guess that these were from Desian soldiers, barking commands to their fellows in the ranch. Whatever they were saying certainly boded ill for the woman they were tormenting, inside those formidable walls.

Sheena hardly even realized she was moving before it was too late to stop. "I'm just going to go see what's happening," she said quickly to Kuchinawa by way of explanation, spinning on her heel and dashing out of the foliage before he could stop her.

She heard an angry exclamation at her back, but Sheena didn't turn around. She reached the cliffside in seconds and swung herself up the branches of the nearest tree, frantically beginning to climb. The ascent was easy; her natural clumsiness didn't seem any more eager to rear its head now than her common sense. From the tree's highest branches she was able to glimpse the goings-on of the human ranch down at the base of the cliff, with her body more or less safely ensconced in the cover of thick leaves. What she saw below made her blood boil with rage.

A group of four Desians had cornered a prisoner near the outer perimeter of the ranch, a young woman by the looks of it. She was caught with her back to the wall in a remote corner, having nowhere else to run from her captors. The prisoner was rail-thin and dressed in filthy rags, which Sheena could see plainly through the horizontal cords of thick wire that generated the invisible force fields along the outer wall. The only element of the prisoner's appearance that wasn't as drab as her wardrobe was a flash of rose color at the top of her head, flaky dirt caked in her hair not quite enough to subdue its vibrance. The woman's body was skin and bones, a clear byproduct of malnourishment, and she was hopelessly outmatched by the four burly soldiers who stood in a semicircle around her. Despite that, she stood tall and bravely held herself in a fighter's stance as her tormentors closed in—her fists were both raised defiantly in a bold gesture of self-defense, as though she dared any one of the four men before her to be the first to strike.

As Sheena watched, frozen by warring indecision and anger, one of the Desian soldiers took the initiative.

"Guess one round of punishment wasn't enough for you, swine," he snarled, stepping forward and raising a silver battle-axe in one gauntlet-clad hand. "But even a prisoner with _your_ attitude will learn sooner or later, that there can only be one fate awaiting any human who dares to defy a superior half-elf!"

The soldier ran forward at the prisoner, raising his axe high so he could bring it down in a wide arc. Then, a number of events occurred in quick succession that made Sheena gasp in disbelief from her tree:

For a few long, agonizing seconds, the prisoner held her ground, tensed and unmoving in the face of the soldier's charge. Just as a terrified Sheena was making up her mind to jump down and intervene, the prisoner feinted right, then threw herself to the ground and out of the swinging weapon's path. The axe's arc missed hitting her by a hair's breadth—the Desian soldier, blindsided, couldn't stop his weapon's trajectory in time, and with a yelp of shock he careened axe-first into the ranch's fortified wall.

The blade tore through a number of the thick coiled wires that generated the outer force field, which were strung between narrow columns erected at intervals along the ranch's perimeter. The soldier screamed as an electric surge from the severed wires traveled up the axe and into his body, electrocuting him until he finally let go of the weapon and staggered back. The force field around the ranch flickered visibly for a moment, but ultimately held, leaving only an unsteady segment fluttering in and out of existence around the axe deeply embedded at the base of the fence. It wouldn't be moving from that spot anytime soon.

Turning the soldier's own attack against him was just the beginning. While the Desian was still struggling to recover from his failed attack, the prisoner hit the ground rolling so that she could spring up again without any lost momentum. Once back on her feet, she spun in place and kicked the soldier directly in his helmeted head, striking at an angle that whipped his neck about quickly enough to _crack_. A blow like that could leave a man paralyzed for life, Sheena knew, and with stunned fascination she watched as the prisoner followed up by diving at the fallen man's belt to seize the metal handle of his whip.

The other Desians hardly had any time to react. Before they knew what was happening, the prisoner was on them, launching herself with a scream of rage at the men who had tortured her. They yelled out and beat a hasty retreat, two managing an escape while a third fell at the mercy of the prisoner's whip. He frantically attempted to stand up but she struck her weapon down on him again and again, tearing through the gaps in the soldier's armor until his body was left a broken and bleeding mess. She wouldn't stop until he was dead.

Sheena hadn't realized that the scene below held her paralyzed until a sudden intervention broke the spell.

" _What in Mithos's name are you doing?_ " Kuchinawa's voice snarled harshly in her ear, strong fingers seizing her upper arm with bruising force. The younger ninja's free hand had already slapped itself firmly over Sheena's mouth, anticipating her startled shout of surprise. He let her go nearly at once, but wasn't done yet, spinning her around to face him on the branch where she sat.

Sheena's shock at seeing him left her at a temporary loss for words. "I—"

" _Save it!_ " he hissed. "We're getting out of here, now, while they're still distracted with that prisoner! Come on!"

Sheena's tongue weighed heavily like lead in her mouth, stricken thoughts racing to form a coherent argument. "B-But..." She glanced down below, and saw that though the woman had successfully killed the fallen soldier with her whip, the two others were already fleeing toward the center of the ranch to find backup. "But that woman—"

"No! Forget her!" Kuchinawa all but shouted, shaking Sheena by the shoulders to make her look at him. "You said you wanted to help the Chosen, right? You wanted to stop those Desians we saw earlier, before they reach our people at the temple!"

Zelos's face flashed guiltily in Sheena's thoughts; however, he had to fight to be seen over the recent memory of the prisoner's tortured screams. Sheena found her gaze flickering unbidden toward the ranch again. More soldiers were gathering to meet the ones that had run away from the corner of the wall, listening intently to whatever story was being conveyed.

"But—she—" she stammered.

"Sheena!" Kuchinawa said. She'd never seen him so upset before, all traces of his regular teasing and competitive nature gone. "Human ranches are Desian territory. They're half-elves, you imbecile! They all have Exspheres! If we go down there, we'd never make it back to..."

He didn't stop talking, but something in Sheena compelled her to look away from him toward the ground. The prisoner was now trying in vain to lift the soldier's battle-axe that had been embedded at the base of the wall, knowing it would leave behind a gap just big enough to squeeze through if she could get it free. For their part, the Desians hadn't fully regrouped yet, but it would only be a matter of seconds before they gathered their weapons and headed back in the prisoner's direction to retaliate. She was running out of time.

Kuchinawa abruptly stopped his tirade mid-sentence, following the path that Sheena's eyes had locked on behind the cloth mask covering the lower half of her face. The younger ninja's body stiffened on the branch beside her, and once more he yanked forcibly her by the arm to get her attention.

"Sheena, you can't!" he said harshly, gesturing desperately toward the ranch. "Think of the Chief! Think of the people of Mizuho! Spying on the human ranch is bad enough, but if we let a prisoner escape? The Desians would retaliate, and kill us all!"

Head bowed, Sheena allowed herself to be pulled forward. She refused to meet Kuchinawa's eyes. The shame in her posture was real, but already the fingers of her free hand were curling inward, toward her sleeve—feeling for the number of concealed guardian seals she'd brought with her into the mountains. She grasped only two, wind and fire, but even one would be enough for what she had to do.

"Kuchinawa, they're going to kill her," she began lowly, voice trembling in fear of what she was about to risk. She desperately wanted to make him understand her reasoning. "You saw what the soldiers were doing. You know what the Desians are capable of. That prisoner's gotten this far on her own, but if she can't make it past the wall, it doesn't matter. We can't just _sit back_ and watch it happen!"

"Damn you, idiot, of course we can!" Kuchinawa snapped back, sounding nearly afraid himself. "That stupid Chosen of yours is starting on his journey tomorrow, or have you already forgotten? If he succeeds, it won't matter anymore, what the Desians are capable of. _This isn't our fight!_ "

He was wrong. Sheena yanked her arm away from him, fire in her dark eyes as she pulled down the cloth that covered her face, so he could see her clearly.

"Then whose fight is it? We're supposed to ignore what's happening in Tethe'alla because of the Desians, until the Chosen's trials are through?" she snapped. "Salvation doesn't happen overnight, Kuchinawa! People are getting hurt in those ranches—why _don't_ we try to put a stop to the suffering that's going on right now in front of us, instead of making Zelos do it all by himself!"

Kuchinawa opened his mouth to say something back, but Sheena's mind was made up. With a silent prayer to Mithos on her lips, she steeled herself and leapt down from the tree branch away from the other ninja, scaling the trunk in calculated leaps until she'd landed on the rocky cliff's edge below.

A lifetime of training flashed lightning-quick through her mind's eye. Mechanically, she pulled up the cloth mask over her face again, so that she wouldn't be recognized or remembered by anyone at the ranch even if she were seen. Sheena gathered her wits and desperately appealed to Mithos that she'd get away from this ordeal undetected with her life intact, if nothing else so that her grandfather wouldn't have rescued her from Gaoracchia Forest all those years ago in vain.

Her nerves as steady as they would ever be, Sheena grimaced and threw herself over the side of the cliff, already planning out exactly what she needed to do. Diving headfirst toward the human ranch below, she twisted midair and pulled out the wind-guardian seal from her sleeve in a single, fluid motion. This was it. She couldn't afford to make any mistakes now; too many lives hinged on her actions in this moment in time.

If Kuchinawa was smart, he'd run for the temple and leave her behind. This might not be _his_ fight, but as of this second, this choice, it was hers.

The earth rose up to meet her, and Sheena hit the ground running—hurtling headlong into the second-most important decision of her life.


	4. #066. “Dangerous Territory”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Direct continuation of #065, “A Moment in Time.” Sheena determines to rescue the prisoner she saw being tortured inside Meltokio Ranch—but of course, things don’t go according to plan.

The ground outside Meltokio Human Ranch was tiered and uneven. It was a matter of leaps and bounds as well as running for Sheena to scale the jagged cliffs and treetops and finally arrive at the exact location she wanted—a breach in the eastern wall where a Desian's battle-axe had missed its target and instead hit the base hard enough to get stuck. The seemingly helpless prisoner had escaped the weapon's arc, leaving the weapon to cut through some of the heavy wire cords strung along the ranch's outer perimeter as it landed. The electric current generating the force field around the compound was holding for now, meaning the axe would have to be moved if Sheena or the prisoner wanted to create any sizable gap. The woman was already trying her hardest to get it unstuck without success, knowing it was her only hope of escape.

Sheena landed in a noiseless crouch outside the wall. Her sudden appearance caused the prisoner on the other side to start. Up close, Sheena could see more of the woman than what she'd caught from the cliffs: the prisoner looked to be perhaps ten years or so older than Sheena or Kuchinawa, maybe near Orochi's age, and her appearance was positively emaciated. She was tall, her body sickly thin and frail-looking, and the filthy grey smock she'd been forced to wear hung off her like paper. The prisoner's hair was wildly long and pink-colored beneath a coating of grime and dust, and had been tied up in messy pigtails on either side of her head to keep it out of her face.

However, something in the way the prisoner held herself exuded an aura of great strength and determination. That, and the incredible fight she'd put up against the Desians that had tortured her in the yard, told Sheena this woman clearly had the ferocity of a warrior. She doubted even the best if Mizuho's fighters could drive back four soldiers with Exspheres in that condition, let alone disarm and kill two of them.

As Sheena straightened herself up on the ground, the prisoner warily released her hold on the axe's handle and took a step back. She regarded Sheena with suspicion.

"What are you doing? Who are you?" the woman accused, eyes every bit as hard as the ice that shared their color. "You _shouldn't be here_."

"Yeah, well, neither should you," Sheena said defensively. She held up the guardian seal in one hand, prepared to release it to make their getaway. "Come on—I'm here to get you out!"

The prisoner opened her mouth to speak. Before she could, however, several male voices suddenly rang out nearby:

"There she is! The human prisoner that stole the ore!"

"Hey, what—there's someone else there with her! GET THEM!"

The Desians had arrived, five soldiers in total. Two were the same men that had run off to escape the prisoner's retaliation after she got her hands on the whip, and three of them were new reinforcements. All held bladed weapons; more worryingly, Sheena also detected the gleam of Exspheres on their hands.

" _No_ ," she whispered, stomach plummeting. She'd been counting on having enough time before the soldiers returned to teleport both herself and the prisoner out of the ranch, using a guardian to escape without being seen. Her plan had been to get in and out quickly and cleanly, without leaving any potential for a trail of witnesses that could link the incident back to Sheena or the village.

Now, though, since the Desians had spotted her helping a prisoner, there was no longer any point in escaping quickly. Breathing in deeply, Sheena pulled her cloth mask down off her face once more and tossed it aside. It wouldn't do her any good now. Even if her clothes weren't a dead giveaway, the Desians knew the only other people besides themselves in the Fooji Mountains were the citizens of Mizuho. To protect her people from the ranchers' retaliation, Sheena would have to kill every last soldier who had seen her here.

And since the Desians had Exspheres, she knew only one way.

"Go!" she shouted, slicing her hand in an upward arc to release the wind-guardian seal in her hand. In a billowing cloud of smoke, the towering form of the guardian appeared on the opposite side of the wall, hovering midair inside the ranch. Without waiting for orders, the guardian lunged toward the approaching Desian soldiers and began to tear into them brutally, knocking the men aside easily with wide sweeps of its great spidery arms. The men yelled in surprise as they were taken down.

"That should care of all of 'em, with any luck," Sheena said breathlessly, turning to the prisoner. "And it'll keep the other Desians away, if any more come over here trying to look for us. That'll buy us some time, but we've got to hurry!"

The prisoner didn't answer right away. She was staring over her shoulder with wide blue eyes, at the guardian that was making a bloodied mess of the group of soldiers behind her. "What... _is_ that thing?" the prisoner finally said in a shaking voice. "It doesn't l-look like any monsters I saw in the forest..."

Sheena assumed the prisoner was talking about the surrounding mountain pass, which was filled densely with trees. "That thing's not a monster. It's a guardian," Sheena said quickly. "I haven't got time now to explain. We have to get this stupid axe out of the wall so you can escape!"

She reached down to try and grab the axe by the unstuck half of the double-bitted blade. But before she could, she was stopped by a sudden, shocked exclamation from the prisoner: " _Don't!_ "

Sheena froze. The prisoner was staring at her with an expression of terror that quickly faded, once she saw that Sheena's hand had stopped moving. The woman shook her head with a sudden sharp look, and with a hand, she reached into the neckline of her dirty smock. From within her clothes she pulled a frayed leather cord tied loosely as a necklace, upon which hung a small, glittering symbol like a pendant.

"The wires that run through this fence carry a powerful electric charge," the prisoner said quickly, holding up the symbol for Sheena to see. "This charm guards against all damage from lightning, giving me full protection from the surge. Because that axe is still connected to the wires that were cut, anyone who touches it now will be electrocuted. You mustn't try to grab it again!"

"Like that soldier..." Sheena said, remembering. She glanced down at one of the two dead Desians on the ground: he had been killed by the prisoner kicking him in the head, not electric shock from his axe. But it was a sobering thought all the same.

The prisoner dropped her necklace back down into her clothes. She stepped forward and determinedly seized the handle of the axe again.

"I don't know who you are," she panted to Sheena, getting a grip on the weapon and starting to pull, "but you should go, _now_ , before the other Desians attract attention with their deaths. That guardian creature is very powerful, but nothing will stop the Desian Grand Cardinal who runs this ranch. You need to get away while you still can!"

"We're not going anywhere."

It wasn't Sheena who had spoken. The prisoner's eyes widened, alarmed at the potential for danger from a new arrival, but Sheena's surprise was of an entirely different nature. She _knew_ that voice, but she still couldn't believe her ears—not until she whipped about to the sight of a familiar face emerging from the craggy trees.

"Kuchinawa!"

"You know him?" the prisoner asked mistrustfully.

There was a quirk of a smile beneath the cloth of Kuchinawa's mask. "Apparently, not as well as she thought she did," he said.

Without wasting further words, he threw something in Sheena's direction, hard enough to whistle through the air as it flew past. She caught it with one hand, purely out of reflex, then glanced down in stupefaction to see what the object was. In her hand she held a purple spell card, thrumming with familiar energy. She recognized it as one of the elemental weapons sold at the Toyama shop in Mizuho.

"I stole that from Orochi's room this morning, in preparation for our little adventure in the mountain pass," Kuchinawa said, with his usual air of smug self-satisfaction. "But then I remembered _you're_ the one who likes to fight with seals. It's a Lightning Card—gives you extra damage and protection from electric attacks. It should protect you from that fence, once you've got it equipped."

"Th...That's..." Sheena could hardly speak, she was so overwhelmed. " _Thank_ _you_ , Kuchinawa! I can't believe you actually followed me here!"

"I guess someone had to make sure you didn't die." Kuchinawa turned to the prisoner, who was watching their exchange guardedly from behind the wall. "This has got to be the stupidest thing I've ever done, but, I guess we're busting you out of here. No more time to waste."

The prisoner shook her head, looking resigned. "You children are very foolish."

"I've heard that one before," Kuchinawa said coolly. "Now, on my count: you grab that axe by the handle, and we'll take the blade. Pull hard while we push!"

"You can't touch that without your own protection," the prisoner told him sharply.

"Trust me, I'm covered," he said in reply. Turning to Sheena, he added, "By the way, if the two of us get out of this mess alive, you owe me another Panacea Bottle!"

"Got it," Sheena said.

They both reached down to grip opposite ends of the exposed part of the blade, careful not to let its sharp edges cut their hands. Inside the ranch, the prisoner repositioned her grip on the axe's handle.

"On my count," Kuchinawa ordered, sounding nervous, "...one, two...THREE!"

He and Sheena shoved with all their strength; the prisoner yanked hard at the same time. The axe wobbled unsteadily for a moment in the wall for a moment, shifted slowly, then gave out. With a shout, the two children stumbled forward and fell to the ground, while the prisoner staggered back but managed to get her balance. The axe was so heavy that the blade end dropped to the ground and stayed there, though the prisoner didn't release her grip on the handle.

"Yes! We did it!" Sheena said excitedly.

"No time to celebrate, Sheena," Kuchinawa snapped. "This is already taking way too long! And what are YOU doing?"

The prisoner, one hand still balancing the battle-axe on the ground, had knelt down over the bodies of the dead Desians. She hurriedly turned over the men's hands, one at a time, and dug frantically for something attached to the back of their silver gauntlets.

For once, Sheena was in total agreement with Kuchinawa. "Hey, we've gotta go!" she said urgently, barely resisting the urge to stamp her feet. "I've only got one guardian left with me, and I _don't_ want to use it now! Hurry up!"

The prisoner stood at last, looking grimly satisfied as she dropped something into the pocket of her dress. With surprising strength, she hefted up the Desian battle-axe in both hands and slung it over her bony shoulders.

"Hey, are you crazy? You can't possibly carry—" Kuchinawa started impatiently, but the prisoner cut him off with a thunderous glare. Her ice-blue eyes were impossibly hard.

"I am stronger than I look," she said coldly, leaving no room for argument. Kuchinawa and Sheena exhanged a nervous glance and went silent.

The prisoner carefully maneuvered her way through the gap in the wall to the other side. Her movements felt agonizingly slow given their dire circumstances, and the children fidgeted, hearing sounds of Desian soldiers drifting their way louder from the center of the ranch.

Then the prisoner had made it through the gap, and gingerly stepped out onto the ground where Sheena and Kuchinawa stood. She straightened up, still balancing the weight of the axe on her shoulders, and did not look back again toward the human ranch.

She was free.

They'd done what they needed to do. "Come on," Kuchinawa said quietly to Sheena, motioning toward the nearby hills. She nodded back and prepared to follow, guiding the prisoner to follow.

"Time to get out of this crazy place," Sheena told the woman in a hopeful whisper, ducking down as they all made their way clumsily through the first cluster of trees. "The two of us can get you as far as Mithos Temple. After that—"

"Stop," the prisoner said suddenly, catching Sheena's wrist in her hand. Sheena stopped, and Kuchinawa did as well, looking offended that the others had stopped moving.

"What's the hold-up?" he hissed, jerking his head in the direction of the ranch they'd just left. "We're not nearly out of range yet to be safe!"

He looked ready to turn back around and keep going, but before either of them could move, the prisoner reached for his and Sheena's hands with both of her own. Sheena felt a smooth object being pressed firmly into the skin of her palm.

"For your kindness," the prisoner said simply, looking clearly into Sheena's eyes. "I can't go with you any farther, but you'll need to protect yourselves from the Desians in case they figure out some way to hunt you down. I sincerely hope it doesn't come to that, but you can't be too careful. Do _not_ attempt to equip that without a Key Crest, do you understand?"

"What do you mean, you can't come with us?" Sheena demanded, the rest of the message not having quite sunk in yet. "Of course you're coming with us, it's the only to get through the pass! And what the heck is a Key Crest?"

"Sheena!" Kuchinawa interjected, sounding uncharacteristically excited. "Sheena, forget all that for a second! Look at this!"

Startled, Sheena belatedly glanced down at the object in her own hand. To her complete shock, it was an _Exsphere_ —a smooth, translucent gem worn by Desians and anyone else lucky enough to find one, to enhance their strength and skill. Sheena saw that there was a rune carved on a crest attached to the gem's side, caked-on blood from the earlier fight not enough to diminish her sense of wonder and awe. The prisoner must have taken these from the dead Desian soldiers.

Sheena opened her mouth to stammer her thanks for the incredible gift, but the prisoner held up a hand to stop her.

"I am not able to go with you to the temple. I have urgent business to attend to, in the village of Ozette," the woman said, speaking quickly so as to avoid being interrupted. "If either of you should have further need of me, you will find me there. I have wasted enough of your time today. Now _go!_ "

She turned away from them without another word and sprinted in the opposite direction. Too stunned to react in time, Sheena helplessly watched the woman's retreating back and caught another detail that she had somehow missed before—the glint of another gem, an Exsphere, embedded on the skin of her right hand. It shone red where it caught the sunlight through the trees.

Why would a Desian prisoner be wearing an Exsphere?

Sheena hadn't even learned her name.

"Time to go," Kuchinawa whispered in Sheena's ear, vanishing soundlessly without another word into the trees. Behind them, shouts of more soldiers could be heard, echoing angrily in distance from the human ranch. The prisoner's bloody escape had been discovered.

Sheena swallowed, pocketing the precious Exsphere inside the lining of her clothes. She ran for the hills, melting back gradually into the mountain pass as she did, and along with Kuchinawa she sprinted as fast as she dared toward Mithos Temple. The woman's fate might still be uncertain, but Zelos was the one who needed her help now. Anything else would have to be left to prayer.

The children had no way of knowing that, through their singular act of kindness, freeing one woman, one prisoner, they had unwittingly unleashed the gates of hell.

"Analyze the data from the gate surveillance system!" Lord Forcystus barked, staring down without expression at the unadorned cloth mask he held in his non-weaponized right hand—the same hand that carried his Exsphere. "Recapture that prisoner! Whoever it was that helped that _wretched_ human escape is going to regret the day they interfered with my plans for Lord Rodyle..."

The Desian guards around him scrambled across the ranch to do as he asked. Left alone, Forcystus stared out silently, unseeing, into the territory beyond the cliffs.

"A guardian-user..."


	5. #016. “Excuses”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sheena and Kuchinawa finally reach Mithos Temple.

They were nearly out of the mountain pass when Kuchinawa reappeared at Sheena's side and grabbed her by the arm.

"What's up?" she asked, glancing about to make sure they were alone.

"Listen, Sheena," he said. "You should know this already, but we can't tell _anyone_ what happened back there at the human ranch. You got it?"

Sheena's stomach turned at the thought of lying to the others in the village. "We didn't do anything wrong," she said defensively, pulling her hand back so she could fold both arms stubbornly over her chest. "The Chief and the others would understand, if they knew what the Desians were doing to that poor woman!"

"Mizuho's citizens have been banned from interfering with the human ranch for years," Kuchinawa said scornfully. "The Chief himself made that decree before either of us was born. Too many of our people have died at the Desians' hands already, and our village doesn't have a non-aggression treaty with the ranches like Meltokio."

"So? No treaty just means we have no reason not to interfere with the ranches!"

"Oh yeah? Just like the Desians now have no reason not to burn Mizuho to the ground?" Kuchinawa snapped. "I'm glad we freed that woman, Sheena, but we can't do something risky like that again. If my parents find out about it, they'll have my head!"

Sheena cast her eyes down, not wanting to admit she feared the same thing. "What about our Exspheres?" she asked, using it as a last resort. "How are we supposed to explain where they came from, if we can't say anything about going to the ranch? Everyone will want to know where we got them. They're too valuable to just be lying around."

Kuchinawa didn't say anything for a moment. He pulled out his Exsphere and Key Crest from within a pocket of his garments, turning the jewel over in his hands with a contemplative stare.

"I guess if anyone asks, we can just say we picked these up from those Desian soldiers we saw on the pass," he said. "We'll say a monster finished them off and we just took the Exspheres from their bodies. It's not like it's a total lie."

Sheena sighed in defeat. "Fine," she muttered. "I _hate_ it when you're right."

They set off again. Within minutes, they had finally cleared the pass, and from the base of the Fooji Mountains it was only a short distance across the grassy plains before they finally reached their destination—Mithos Temple, set at the top of a rolling hill, towered over the surrounding land long before they reached its outer gates.

_I'm coming, Zelos_ , Sheena vowed silently, her stomach doing anxious flips as the base of the temple site gradually came into view. _You had better still be safe_.

 

* * *

 

The two of them arrived at the temple grounds in minutes, breathless and panting. Sheena didn't know what she expected to find when they got there, but she was surprised to see a couple of familiar figures standing a ways ahead of her and Kuchinawa. They stood at the base of the stone stairs that lead up at a steep angle toward the entryway of the temple proper. Tiga was recognizable by his distinctive garb; the other person was almost too far away to tell—though there was no mistaking that long mane of wild, red hair.

"Sheena, look! It's the vice-chief!" Kuchinawa said, sounding uncharacteristically excited. "And the Chosen is with him...if they're just standing around like this, it must mean we got here before the Desians!"

Sheena wasn't so sure, but she was still relieved to see Zelos was all right. Her heart leapt to her throat the way it always did when she first laid eyes on him, a sensation like fluttering wings building up from the pit of her stomach. She tried to ignore those feelings as she always did, knowing Kuchinawa and especially Zelos would tease her mercilessly about them if they ever found out. "Zelos!" she called out loudly, waving frantically in his direction to get his and Tiga's attention. "Zelos, hey! It's me!"

Alerted by the sound of Sheena's voice, the two figures turned. Tiga's face morphed at once into a disapproving scowl, surveying Sheena and Kuchinawa as they drew near, while Zelos merely looked surprised.

"Sheena! Kuchinawa!" Tiga yelled, lifting a hand to strike them both. "What is the meaning of this?!"

The children ducked, yelping in fear and pain. "Sorry!" Sheena yelped, covering her head as the vice-chief rained punishment down on them.

"Wh-Where's everyone else?" Kuchinawa managed to stammer out between blows.

"They went ahead to scout," Tiga said angrily, "and don't change the subject!"

Beside Tiga, the Chosen of Tethe'alla schooled his features from surprise back to his typical self-satisfied smirk. His clear blue eyes were narrowed squarely on Sheena.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't my loveliest and mostly deadly young beauty in all of Mizuho, Sheena!" Zelos drawled, throwing his broad arms open wide in a showy display of grandeur. "You certainly are full of surprises, my _darling_ hunny~."

The butterflies in Sheena's stomach were abruptly quashed at these words. She forgot all about Tiga. "I told you to stop calling me that!" Sheena yelled in anger, as Kuchinawa shouted at the same time, "I _told_ you to stop calling her that!"

"Zelos, how can you act so immature today of all days?" Sheena demanded, heat rising to her face as her temper boiled up to replace any relief she'd had at seeing him. "You're supposed to receive the oracle from Mithos soon! Don't you think you should be a little more...you know..."

"Chosen-like?" Kuchinawa quipped.

"Sor- _ry_ ," Zelos said with a huff, not sounding sorry at all. "I didn't realize everyone was going to be such a killjoy about it..."

" _What are you two doing here?_ " Tiga interjected, putting a stop to their argument before it could escalate further. "I told you BOTH to stay behind! The mountain pass is far too dangerous for children!"

Kuchinawa glared, the anger in his eyes belied by a subsequent bow of respect. "With all due respect, Vice-Chief, I beg to differ," he said, "seeing as how my parents and my brother Orochi—as well as Sheena's grandfather the Chief—all came here to escort the Chosen One to Mithos Temple. Sheena and I wanted to be a part of Mizuho's efforts to help the Chosen one. And we believe that we may have some important news that everyone in the Chosen's party should hear."

Sheena nodded, taking her cue to chime in. "We've come here delivering an important warning to you, Vice-Chief," she said, quickly and urgently. "While traveling through the mountain pass, Kuchinawa and I passed some foot soldiers from the nearby human ranch. They looked as thought they were headed in the direction of Mithos Temple. Two of the men were killed by...uh, _monsters_ , in the Fooji Mountains, but we still have reason to believe that—"

" _The...Desians..._ "

A new, shaking voice interjected from somewhere above their heads, the sound traveling from partway up the stone steps behind them. Surprised, Sheena and the others glanced in the direction of the staircase to locate the source. She felt all the blood drain from her face.

"Grandpa...!"

Kuchinawa and the others shouted out in horror, but Sheena was already in motion, hurtling up the steps as fast her body could move to reach the injured Chief before he collapsed.

"Grandpa!" she cried, catching him in her arms when his legs gave out. "Grandpa, no! What happened?!"

Igaguri shuddered as Sheena lowered his body to the ground. Blood poured freely from a wound on the side of his head. Tiga, Kuchinawa, and Zelos ran up the steps to crowd around them, all looking stunned and horrified.

"The Desians...were waiting when we arrived...and ambushed us inside the temple," the Chief gasped out, visibly struggling from the effort of speech. "All the priests and most of our warriors fell...they mean to k-kill...the Chosen One..."

Tiga knelt down at Igaguri's side and lifted away the indigo cloth covering the top of his head. The garment was stained with blood, and when it was stripped away they could all see a nasty gash on the side of the Chief's head. It had clearly been made by a weapon.

"Head wound. The Chief has been badly hurt," Tiga said urgently. "We need to get him back to the village as quickly as we can. He must see a doctor."

Sheena felt as though the earth itself was falling apart beneath her. "No...this wasn't supposed to happen!" she cried out, staring down tearfully at Igaguri's injuries. "We were supposed to warn you all! You were supposed to be safe!"

"I can't believe this..." Kuchinawa said, sounding ill. He seemed unable to look at the Chief directly.

Igaguri didn't question why Sheena and Kuchinawa were there. In fact, he seemed to stare right through both them, and Tiga as well. Painstakingly, the Chief of Mizuho lifted his chin to focus his imploring gaze on Zelos.

"Chosen One...Zelos," Igaguri gasped out, closing his eyes. "Y-You are our last...h-hope...you m-must flee. H-Hurry and go, n-now...q-quick...ly..."

Sheena felt her heart stop. "Grandpa!" she cried out, panicked. "No! _Grandpa!_ You c- _can't_...!"

She shook her grandfather's shoulders with increasing hysteria, while Zelos merely stared down at Igaguri's limp form expressionlessly. The Chosen was silent for a long moment; then, slowly, he turned his narrowed blue eyes toward Mithos Temple looming above at the top of the stairs.

"Sebastian is still up there," Zelos said, tone indecipherable as he moved one hand to the well-worn scabbard at his waist. "I won't be able to go on a journey of world regeneration if my bodyguard dies."

"My brother Orochi and my parents are up there!" Kuchinawa added, panic creeping into his voice as he whirled about to face Tiga and Sheena on the ground. "If the Desians really made it here first, then...my family in terrible danger!"

Tiga, seeming to understand what the boys intended to do, snapped, "This battle is too dangerous for children! Zelos, Kuchinawa—you heard what the Chief said! You must run now, and escape, before the Desians come!"

"Sorry, gramps, but he's not _my_ Chief," Zelos said with forced indifference. "And you're not my vice-chief or whatever, so...I can do as I please." He turned his back on them and began to race up the stairs. "Later!"

"Zelos!" Sheena and Tiga cried out in unison.

Kuchinawa stared after the retreating Chosen as well for a moment, then glanced over at Tiga, Sheena, and the prone Igaguri on the ground.

"I am sorry to disgrace the Azumi family name, vice-chief," Kuchinawa said, bowing his head in deference to Tiga. "But I cannot obey you, if it means sacrificing my family to the Desians. I must go."

He ran up the steps after Zelos without another word, ignoring Tiga's frustrated yells for him to stop.

Beside him, Sheena wiped her eyes, listening to her friends' receding footsteps. Grief settled heavily on her heart, but she knew what decision had to be made. "Take the Chief back to Mizuho, Vice-Chief," she ordered Tiga, slowly rising to her feet. "He needs to see a doctor, like you said, and the mountain pass is too dangerous for children. We'd never make it back to the village carrying an injured man."

"Sheena Fujibayashi!" Tiga snapped. "Don't you dare! I _forbid_ you to—"

"I'm sorry!" she cried, running away from him up the staircase toward her friends. Tiga shouted out for her to return, but she ignored his pleas and kept going. A flash of guilt ached in Sheena's heart, at the thought of leaving her grandfather behind with such a life-threatening injury, but she tamped it down with a vicious swell of anger. Sheena wasn't a healer. Staying behind wouldn't do her grandfather any good; for that she had to help the others. She would not make excuses for her actions. She pushed her legs harder as she ran, forcing herself to catch up to Kuchinawa and Zelos before they were completely out of sight.

If Chief Igaguri died from his wounds today, she thought with fury, then the Desians would have taken away Sheena's only family.

She would not let them have her friends as well.


	6. #001. “Introduction”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enter the ill-tempered mercenary.

Sheena was the last of the group to reach the top of the stairs. As she bounded up the final steps to the temple, a scream of rage tore through the air in a voice that cut her soul like a knife.

" _No!_ "

Sheena knew that scream. Suddenly sick with fear, she flew over the top of the steps and looked wildly about the plateau where the others were. Directly in front of her, Zelos knelt protectively on the ground over Sebastian, and was muttering the incantation for a healing spell. The older man had sustained a serious-looking injury to his lower-right leg, which was bleeding profusely through his clothes. The wound was serious, but neither Sebastian nor Zelos had been the one to scream.

"Mother..." a voice groaned loudly at Zelos's right, words raw with anguish. "M-Mother...Father..."

Almost in slow motion, Sheena found herself turning to look. Kuchinawa was kneeling over two familiar-looking figures on the ground, both clad in bloodstained Mizuho garb. Unlike Sebastian, it was apparent that the two figures were already dead. Sheena realized, belatedly, that they were Kuchinawa and Orochi's parents.

She let out a gasp, feeling her stomach drop into her knees. "No!" she cried out in horror, running distraught to where Kuchinawa was huddled shaking on the ground. "Oh, _no_ , Kuchinawa...!"

Eyes blurred with tears, Sheena dropped down beside her friend and threw her arms around him. Kuchinawa's parents had been like family to her as well. She felt their loss nearly as keenly as their son.

For a moment, the chaos of the surrounding battle seemed to disappear—soldiers shouting, weapons clashing together, bodies of priests and ninjas strewn across the plateau like rag dolls. Unfortunately, the soldiers who had done this weren't finished.

At the center of the plateau, three soldiers clad in Desian garb stood together in a group. With the new arrivals, their focus had turned to Zelos and the others.

"Lord Botta! There he is!" one soldier cried, pointing at Zelos.

Behind the soldiers, a single, burly man with tall brown hair stepped forward. He was stockily built and dressed only in a full-bodied tunic, foregoing metal armor in favor of a lighter mesh made out of leather. Unlike the foot soldiers, he wore no helmet over his head, exposing a pair of pointed ears that marked him as a half-elf.

"Give us the Chosen," Botta demanded, in a voice that commanded authority and respect. "His life is mine!"

The mention of Zelos's title brought Sheena slowly back to reality. She realized that Orochi was the only survivor of the Desian massacre: the older ninja alone stood between Zelos's group and the Desian soldiers, grimly refusing to budge an inch to their demands. Orochi's clothes were splattered with blood.

"Run, Zelos!" he barked grimly, addressing the Chosen behind him. Unlike Kuchinawa, Orochi did not seem to grieve for his parents' loss. He held his ground determinedly before the soldiers, as a seasoned Mizuho warrior was trained to do in times of peril. The nineteen-year-old was fully prepared to carry out his orders from the Chief, putting aside his feelings for the sake of his duty and honor to the village.

The realization made Sheena ashamed of her own weakness. Grieving could be done later, she thought furiously to herself; but protecting her friends was a matter of _here_ and _now_. She forced herself to stand up ran forward to Orochi's side, standing protectively in front of Zelos.

"I won't let you Desians get away with anything!" she shouted loudly at the soldiers, drawing her Lightning Card.

Rather than intimidated, the soldiers seemed more amused than anything at the sight of a thirteen-year-old threatening their lives. In fact, one of them immediately began to laugh.

"Desians? ...Hahaha!"

Behind Sheena, Kuchinawa's head snapped up. Murder sparked viciously in his dark eyes, replacing grief.

"What's so funny?!" he shouted furiously at the soldiers, leaping to his feet as well. Beside him, Sheena saw Zelos lay Sebastian carefully down on the ground, before standing up slowly and pulling his dagger from its sheath.

The soldiers, seeing this, grinned in preparation for a fight. "Well then," a different one said, brandishing a cleaver-like machete in their direction, "die at the hands of the Desians you so hate! _Get them!_ "

Two soldiers ran forward. Sheena, Orochi, Kuchinawa, and Zelos rose up to meet them, prepared to fight with everything they had.

For a minute or so, the opposing groups seemed evenly matched: the Mizuho warriors' training and greater numbers helping them to hold their own, if barely, against the soldiers' Exspheres, and Zelos had magic and spell-casting to augment the weaknesses of his short-range weapon. Sheena slashed her card through the air in a crackle of static over and over again, feeling a savage thrill every time she landed a blow against a Desian's armor.

After what felt like no time at all, however, she was surprised to see the two men beat a hasty retreat. "Fall back!" one soldier shouted, running back with his partner to where their leader stood. "Vidarr!"

Before the Chosen's group even had a chance to question this turn of events, another, far more threatening combatant stepped forward to take his comrades' place. Sheena's heart sank. Even though she and the others had no intentions of giving up the fight, one look at the half-elf called 'Vidarr' told her that the battle was as good as lost.

Vidarr was the most enormous man Sheena ever laid eyes on, a giant of a half-elf with limbs as thick as tree trunks and a heaving gut to match. His helmet was adorned with tusks on either side, like the head of an elephant, and he wielded an impossibly heavy iron war hammer in one hand and a spiked ball-and-chain in the other. In addition to these weapons, a hefty, enormous looking broadsword had been sheathed in a scabbard that hung behind his back. He stepped forward, swinging the ball and chain over his head in a menacing fashion.

"Do not get in our way!" he shouted.

The others fought bravely, but it was immediately obvious that they were outmatched. Orochi was the first one to be sent flying, his body crashing heavily with a groan at the center of the plateau. Zelos, swearing loudly, tried to prepare a healing spell to revive him, but before he could finsih the incantation he was taken down by a swinging blow of the giant's iron hammer.

Sheena and Kuchinawa were all that remained. Already they were panting and exhausted, driven to their knees in moments by the might of the giant half-elf. It was as good as over.

"Damn..." Kuchinawa whispered through gritted teeth, radiating hate so strongly that Sheena could nearly taste it. "Damn Desians...damn them all..."

Sheena felt much the same. "Man, this guy is really tough," she panted, wishing that they'd at least had time to equip their Exspheres before the battle started. It seemed impossible that their lives were about to end this way, so abruptly, without even a chance to witness the start of the regeneration of the world...

Vidarr stepped forward toward her and Kuchinawa, swinging the ball and chain in deft circles above his head. Wordlessly, the half-elf brought down the weapon in an arc, aiming it weapon directly at Sheena's head: she closed her eyes and held her breath, refusing to let herself cry out despite her fear. She would not disgrace her grandfather that way.

_Ksh-shing!_

The expected blow never came. There was a loud clanging noise throughout the air, sounds of metal weapons crashing together, and then a powerful rumble along the earth as Vidarr flailed backward and hit the ground. Sheena's eyes opened, unable to believe what she was seeing. What savior had the power to fell someone that big?

Glancing up, Sheena saw the visage of an unfamiliar man in a black cloak looming in front of her. The stranger stood protectively before Sheena and the others, wielding a long double-bladed weapon in one hand that was nearly as tall as he was. The blade was slim in build, but razor-sharp, deadly from all angles, and Sheena got the sense that the stranger himself was much the same: the man was taller than any of the Desian soldiers or their leader, and dressed for combat, lightweight fabrics of his outfit overlaid by sturdy armor covering his upper body and lower legs. The stranger had blue hair that he wore tied back in a long ponytail, covering his ears. A few loose strands hung freely about his face, matching the color of his eyes.

Sheena stared at openly at the stranger. "Who are you?" she finally asked, her voice guarded.

The man barely turned his head to look back at her. "Don't get in my way," he said dispassionately to Sheena, turning back to Vidarr as he regained his feet.

Sheena ignored him. With renewed vigor, she leapt up and launched herself back into fight, Kuchinawa following a moment later. Zelos and Orochi followed suit, and before long, the impossible had come to pass.

The giant fell.

His body collapsed like a tree, hitting the ground with enough force to shake the earth. Unsurprisingly, the blue-haired stranger was the one to strike the killing blow: he landed the final cut with a mighty swing of his double-ended blade, eyes cold as the mighty half-elf fell. Without a word, he stared up at the remaining Desian soldiers, his cold expression a wordless challenge.

The Desians' leader, Botta, watched the proceedings with a disgruntled look. He backed up behind his men when the blue-haired man turned to regard him.

"I never thought _you'd_ show up," the half-elf said through gritted teeth, sounding angry, and something else. "Damn...retreat for now!"

The Desian soldiers fled the temple at once. Sheena watched them go, hardly believing her luck.

"Amazing," she breathed, turning in awe toward the stranger who had saved them.

Beside her, Zelos was staring as well. His expression was far more guarded than Sheena's.

"Whoever that guy is, he's strong," he finally said.

Kuchinawa, by contrast, had no interest in their mysterious savior. Instead, his narrowed eyes were fixed squarely upon the retreating Desians: with a sudden lurch, he made to follow the group, not wanting them to escape justice for what they'd done at the temple. He was stopped by Orochi's hand on his arm.

"Leave it," Orochi said sternly, his voice firm despite his obvious exhaustion. "There's nothing you can do now, Kuchinawa."

The younger ninja glared at him, expression willful and stubborn. Orochi held his gaze until Kuchinawa finally broke the stalemate, bowing his head in defeat to glance mutinously at the ground.

"Fine," he huffed. His hands were curled into angry fists at his sides.

As the brothers argued, the mysterious blue-haired stranger finally seemed to realize that the fight was over. Slowly, the man turned around to face Sheena and the others, giving them all a rather bemused expression. For a moment, he seemed unsure of what to say.

"…Is everyone all right?" he finally asked, in a tone that was more neutral than concerned. "Only one of you seems to be hurt."

Sheena blinked, remembering Sebastian. With a renewed sense of fear, she turned around to look for Zelos's wounded bodyguard. Zelos himself was already at Sebastian's side, kneeling beside him and holding his hand with surprising gentleness.

"You're going to be all right," Zelos said quietly. He glanced down at the mangled ruin the Desians had made of his lower-right leg, which was bloody and disfigured beyond all recognition from the knee-down. "We're going to get you back to the village soon, okay?"

Though pale and weak from blood loss, Sebastian managed to shake his head at him. He looked past Zelos, at the blue-haired man that had driven the Desians away.

"Kind sir..." Sebastian managed, his voice frail but incredibly grateful, "I cannot thank you enough for saving the Chosen from the Desians. If there is anything at all you wish to ask for in return, I will do all I can to repay you."

The stranger said nothing for a moment. "I see," he said, glancing at Zelos. "So, this boy is the next Chosen."

Zelos stared back, blue eyes faintly narrowed. "Yeah? And what of it?" he said challengingly, not letting go of Sebastian's hand.

"Chosen One," Sebastian said. There was no reprimand, and his tone was not accusatory, but Zelos fell silent at once and allowed him to continue. "Do not concern yourself with me, young master. You must receive the oracle."

"Like hell!" Zelos, for the first time, sounded angry. "I'm not about to go in there and face the trial, while you bleed to death outside!"

This information was new. "Trial?" Sheena asked.

"Monsters," the blue-haired man said at once, surprising her. "At least, that's what I'd assume. I sense a presence of evil coming from inside the temple."

Orochi nodded at him. "The trial is supposedly a judgment from heaven, sent to test the Chosen One," he said. "That's why the priests and our warriors of Mizuho were set to accompany Zelos. But then, the Desians came, and...well..."

He trailed off, seemingly unable to continue. Sheena felt a lump forming in her throat, and she glanced down at the bodies of Orochi and Kuchinawa's parents on the ground. They had given their life to protect Zelos, along with so many others, because they were determined to give him a chance to bring salvation to Tethe'alla. In that sense, the trial wasn't solely his to bear.

Sebastian was insistent that they go. "Do not waste time worrying about me, Chosen One," he said. "I will be fine."

Zelos shook his head. "You're...You're not going to use that leg again," he said quietly. "I healed it enough to make the bleeding stop...but beyond that, I..."

The stranger walked forward and knelt beside Zelos on the ground. "That wound isn't a life-threatening one," he said with authority, staring down at Sebastian's mangled leg. "If you used your healing magic to stem the bleeding like you said, then it should give you enough time to receive the oracle inside the temple. I can assure you those Desians won't be coming back."

Zelos glared at him. "Don't be stupid," he snapped. "Even if leaving was an option, how the hell am I supposed to make it through the temple without a bodyguard? You just said there are monsters in there!"

Sheena spoke without thinking. "I'll protect you!" she blurted out, running over to stand at Zelos's side. "Kuchinawa and I, we'll both go with you! And Orochi too!"

Zelos turned to her, expression frozen. Sebastian interjected before he could speak.

"Miss Sheena and Master Kuchinawa?" the bodyguard said uneasily, wrinkles deepening in a frown. "I understand that Sir Orochi, at least, is a seasoned warrior, but you children...forgive me, miss, but I have my reservations about sending the Chosen out in your care."

The blue-haired man suddenly snapped his head up. He looked directly at Sheena, as though just now seeing her for the first time.

"You're…Sheena?" he demanded, standing and staring openly at her. He swept his gaze up and down over her as though he were searching for something. "That's your name? But...no. Hmm. You don't have his..."

He trailed off, not bothering to offer an explanation. Sheena, bewildered and a little unnerved, glanced at the others to see if they had any idea what his reaction had been about. Zelos and Orochi looked as confused as her.

Kuchinawa, however, was angry. "Just who are you, anyway?" he demanded, regarding the blue-haired stranger with obvious distrust. He pointed at something on the man's hand, declaring, "You show up out of nowhere to save us from the Desians, but you wear an Exsphere on your hand like they do. What gives?!"

Startled, Sheena glanced to look. Sure enough, the stranger was wearing an Exsphere on his hand—it looked quite similar to the ones she and Kuchinawa had received at the human ranch, from the escaping prisoner. Had the blue-haired man also killed a Desian soldier for his gem?

The stranger stared at Kuchinawa and Sheena for a moment, seeming to decide on something.

"I suppose it can't hurt to introduce myself," he said at last, rather cryptically. He was addressing Sebastian. "I am Yuan, a mercenary. Since your group appears to be a little shorthanded at the moment, I'll gladly accept the job of protecting the Chosen One. ...For a fee, of course."

Sebastian nodded without hesitation, looking immensely grateful. "I accept your offer, Sir Yuan," he said. Turning to Zelos, the bodyguard added, "Now please, Chosen One. You must receive the oracle. I will await your return here, until we are able to travel back to the village as a group. Will you go?"

Zelos looked torn. "...Fine," he said at last, standing. He glanced over at Yuan, giving the mercenary a distinctly unimpressed look. "I'm not that interested in talking to guys, so..." he drawled, suddenly his usual, annoying self again. "Let's hurry up and get this over with."

He turned and walked toward the entrance of the temple. Yuan and Orochi fell into step behind him.

Before they made it more than a few steps, Sheena ran forward to follow. Kuchinawa was right on her heels.

"W…Wait! I'm going, too!" Sheena said desperately. "It's what the Chief would have wanted!"

"If my brother is going, so am I," Kuchinawa snapped.

Orochi looked more than ready to argue the point. He was stopped, however, by Yuan holding up a hand. There was an interested gleam in the mercenary's eye, as he glanced toward Sheena again.

"Hahaha! You certainly have guts," Yuan said, giving her a smirk. "Fine... _Sheena_. You and your friend may tag along. I don't see the harm, so long as you children don't get in my way. Do I make myself clear?"

"What did you say?" Kuchinawa snarled.

" _Kuchinawa_ ," Orochi said warningly.

Yuan's eyes stayed Sheena, who felt frozen under his gaze. The way he stared at her made her uncertain and nervous without knowing why.

"...Yes," Yuan went on, turning away from the two children with a faint smirk. "I think I'll be quite interested to see what you can do. Let's get going."

Without bothering to explain further, he turned to walk away from them toward the wooden doors.

Beside Sheena, Kuchinawa glanced over with a disbelieving look. _What was that all about?_ his incredulous expression seemed to say.

Sheena shook her head, lost. _I don't know,_ she said wordlessly, shrugging at him. The two of them fell into step behind the others without another word.

Together, the party entered Mithos Temple. The Chosen's trial was about to begin.


	7. #028. “Light”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zelos receives the oracle at Mithos Temple.

"Ready, aim..." Zelos chanted, aiming directly at the seal that blocked the passageway, "...BURN, baby! Sorcerer's Ring, fire!"

At his command, the Sorcerer's Ring unleashed a miniature burst of flame, racing in a direct line to meet the magical seal. Behind Zelos, the others in the group tensed, bracing for the moment when the two magical elements would collide. However, rather than a bang, or a powerful impact that shook the temple by its walls, the seal on the passage merely faded into oblivion without a sound as the fire hit. The party relaxed.

Zelos seemed far more disappointed than relieved. "Is that all the Sorcerer's Ring does?" he asked in annoyance, glancing down iat the relic in his hand. "Man, even the _treasure_ in this place is lame! If I wanted flashing lights, I could just use my own magic to light a fire. Talk about a ripoff..."

Sheena—who took issue with the Chosen's whining on the best of days—had no patience spare for him after three solid hours of trudging through the multilevel labyrinth that was Mithos Temple. Zelos's latest comment finally pushed her over the edge.

"You've got to be kidding me!" she exploded, whirling to face him in a towering rage. "We're about ten seconds away from witnessing the most important event in Tethe'alla's history, and all _you_ can talk about is how that ring isn't good enough for you! Why can't you just be grateful the stupid thing actually works?!"

Zelos rose to the bait at once, his face flushing scarlet in anger. "Oh yeah? Well, what would you have me do instead, Miss Historian?" he shouted, brandishing the Sorcerer's Ring at Sheena. "Celebrate? Thank Mithos for the blessing? In case you hadn't noticed, today hasn't exactly been _fun_ for any of us, so please forgive me for not being in a celebrating mood!"

Unbidden, Sheena's eyes flickered toward Orochi and Kuchinawa. The Azumi brothers were watching the argument unfold with expressions of resignation and stony silence, respectively. The two had said nothing on the subject so far, but it was obvious they were still reeling from the loss of their parents at the hands of Desian soldiers. Sheena could see it in the way they fought, spoke. Even moved.

"I...that's not..." Sheena stammered helplessly, not wanting to say anything that might hurt them.

Behind the rest of the group, Yuan sighed. "Stop this pointless arguing," he said with annoyance, striding forward and shoving Sheena and Zelos apart with a sweep of his arms. "We needed to clear this passageway in order to reach the highest part of the temple, and the passage is now clear. Quit wasting time standing around and get a move on!"

Exchanging one last, sullen glance at one another, Sheena and Zelos reluctantly obeyed the mercenary's command. Falling into step behind Yuan and the Azumis, they made their way in silence toward the transporter ahead, which would take them to the top floor of the temple. The time of the oracle was at hand.

 

* * *

 

Whatever anger and resentment still lingered in Sheena's mind dissipated at once when the oracle arrived. Seeing the Cruxis Crystal lying on the altar—a testament to Zelos's divine heritage—had been enough to take her breath away, but this...this was the real deal.

"Is that...?" Sheena gasped in awe, staring wide-eyed at the white-winged figure descending toward them from the chapel's ceiling. The entire room had been bathed in a heavenly glow, making it difficult to see.

Beside her, Kuchinawa seemed equally stunned, if not moreso. "...An angel," he finished in a whisper, crossing his arms over his chest in an ancient gesture to the heavens. Sheena mirrored his actions, swallowing down a sudden feeling of anxiety.

This was it. This was the moment the Chosen's journey truly began.

Behind her, Sheena heard Orochi shift in place. "Incredible," the older boy said softly, straining his eyes to behold the angel through the blinding light. "I wonder, could that be Zelos's real...?"

He trailed off. The light in the temple had finally dimmed, enough so that they could all see the winged figure hovering in the air. The angelic countenance was nearly too beautiful to behold, the sight making Sheena feel utterly small and insignificant, only human.

The angel regarded them all wordlessly for a moment with an expression of total serenity. Finally she opened her mouth, and began to calmly speak:

"I am Pronyma. I am an angel of judgment," the angel said to them, in a voice that was tranquil and pure. "I am here to guide Zelos, son of the mana lineage, on his journey to heaven as the seventh Chosen."

Pronyma was dressed in long, richly colored robes of red and violet. Her aquamarine hair cascaded down her face in waves, beneath a glittering, ornate headpiece inlaid with gold. Her eyes were a deep, lovely shade of purple, and the enormous wings drawn around her frame were a pure, rich golden color. Her beauty was ethereal.

Beside Sheena, Zelos began moving stiffly toward the altar. Sheena almost expected him to make a crack at the angel's gorgeous appearance, but instead he walked forward with steps like a mannequin's, one halting, uncertain movement at a time. The Cruxis Crystal lying on the altar glowed brightly as he drew near, rising up in the air to meet Pronyma's waiting hand.

"The time has come to awaken the God Mithos, who sleeps at the center of the world," the angel said, looking at Zelos.

She slowly extended out her hand toward him, gently pointing the Cruxis Crystal in Zelos's direction. Again, the crystal traveled through the air to meet him, not stopping until it hovered mere inches in front of Zelos's chest.

When the glowing gem was simply too close to ignore, Zelos slowly, painfully, reached up to hold it in his hands. He said nothing, only closing his eyes. Another flash of brilliant light overtook the chapel, blinding everyone. Sheena threw up her hands over her eyes with a startled shout.

When the glare settled, she saw, through the gaps in her fingers, that the crystal had settled in a new place against Zelos's collarbone. It had taken the form of a grand-looking pendant, affixed to his skin like an emblem. The sight of it filled Sheena with an emotion she couldn't immediately name, which she supposed must be happiness, for her friend's sake. With this, nobody could say that Zelos wasn't the true Chosen.

Pronyma, it seemed, was pleased.

"From this moment, Zelos becomes the Chosen of Regeneration," the angel declared. "We of Cruxis bless this event, and hereby bestow the Tower of Salvation upon Tethe'alla."

The earth below them shook. Hearing Kuchinawa's sudden shout of surprise, Sheena jerked her head away from Zelos to look toward the window of the chapel. Outside, an infinite tower had appeared on the distant horizon, rising from the earth into the sky. The white structure of the monument seemed to stretch as high as the heavens themselves, which Sheena supposed must be the point.

If Zelos could ascend the highest reaches of that tower, she thought to herself numbly, then Tethe'alla's regeneration would be...

There was a great clamor from the others, the sounds filling her ears with mindless noise for a moment in time. When the group finally quieted, Pronyma was ready to speak again. She regarded Zelos with a tranquil peace in her violet eyes.

"Zelos, Chosen of Regeneration," she said to him. "Your purpose now is to unlock the seals guarding the Tower of Salvation, so that you may climb its stairs to reach heaven itself in distant lands. Do you humbly accept this task?"

For a moment, Sheena was afraid that he wouldn't answer—rather than being pleased at Cruxis's recognition of him as the true Chosen, Zelos now looked absolutely stricken, staring open-mouthed at Pronyma with an expression that was somewhere between disbelief and horror. Sheena found herself feeling very nearly frightened _for_ him, not just at him: what on earth could be so wrong as to make him act like this?

"I—I do, yeah," Zelos choked out at last, in a voice that seemed terribly vulnerable and uncertain to Sheena's ears. "I...accept."

It should have been a statement of pride, or even joy. Instead, he made it sound almost like a death sentence.

Pronyma nodded to him, looking satisfied. "Very good, Chosen," she said. "With each seal you unlock, we of Cruxis will grant you the powers of the angels. First, you must head north, to the Seal of Lightning. Offer your prayers there to the God Mithos, and defeat all the trials that lie in wait. I shall await your successful passage beyond the seal itself."

Her speech complete, the angel began to rise again to leave them, golden wings flapping slowly higher toward the ceiling. Sheena watched her go, filled with a sense of wonder. Beside her, Zelos's rigid frame suddenly jerked into motion, dashing forward to the alter before Pronyma was gone.

"Wait!" he called to her, sounding faintly desperate. "Just—please wait a second, okay? I need to ask you something!"

Pronyma stopped her ascent. Zelos took her silence as a sign to continue.

"Is it true, what they said? About the day that I was born?" Zelos asked, in a voice that was almost pleading. His blue eyes were wide and filled with a terrible expression of pain. "That you're really—are you _really_ my true mother?"

The angel's eyes widened at this, looking surprised. Then, gradually, her expression settled back into the same serene calm as before, save for a small, beautiful smile that now grazed her lips.

"First, you must head to the Seal of Lightning," Pronyma repeated to Zelos, in her same serene voice. "Am I understood? ...My Zelos, my _beloved_ son."

Zelos stared up at her, seemingly unable to speak. "You...You're..." he gaped in shock, his whole body trembling.

Pronyma's smile didn't falter. "We shall meet again at the next seal, my son," she said, the words a solemn declaration. A promise.

Then, she was gone in a blaze of light—survived only by a scattering of golden feathers upon the alter.

And once again, the five of them stood alone inside the temple.


End file.
